James Chesnut Jr.

James Chesnut Jr. (18 January 1815-1 February 1885) was a US Senator from South Carolina (D) from 3 December 1858 to 10 November 1860, succeeding Arthur P. Hayne and preceding Thomas J. Robertson.

Biography
James Chesnut Jr. was born in Camden, South Carolina to a wealthy planter family, and he became a lawyer in 1837. From 1840 to 1852, he served in the State House of Representatives, and he served in the State Senate from 1852 to 1858. In 1858, he was elected by the state legislature to replace Josiah J. Evans in the US Senate, and, although he was a defender of slavery and states' rights, he opposed the reopening of the Atlantic slave trade and was not a staunch secessionist. He took part in South Carolina's secession convention and was elected to the Confederate Congress, and he also served as a Brigadier-General in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. After the war, he returned to practicing law, and he died in Camden in 1885.